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In an election cycle that promises to deliver a stinging rebuke to the GOP for its disastrous policies, increasingly desperate Republicans are resorting to truly disgusting and disgraceful means of keeping their claws on the levers of power at any price.

This is what Bush and Cheney had to say yesterday:

“However they put it, the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses. That’s what’s at stake in this election. The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq.”

Bush is not content to share power with Democrats, no–who are, after all, red-blooded Americans just like him. Any victory whatsoever by the Dems, any loss of absolute power in Washington by the Republicans, means nothing less than the ignominious defeat of America and a complete victory for terrorists. He makes this statement in the same breath as claiming the GOP wants to win in Iraq, while failing to explain how he intends to do that and while avoiding the NIE statement that the war is actually worsening terrorism.

Bush and Cheney are not alone in their vile rhetoric. In Tennessee, Republicans recently aired two racially tinged commercials against Harold Ford (who is black in a deeply conservative state): a universally condemned one in which a white female stripper asks Ford to call him (evoking interracial sex anxieties for voters) and a radio ad that beats jungle drums whenever Ford is discussed. In Virginia, George Allen slammed Jim Webb over fictional novels Webb had written describing hellish life in Vietnam during that conflict. And, of course, there’s always gay marriage.

These are your leaders, America–schoolyard bullies who show their true colors and throw a tantrum when threatened with losing their disastrous hold on power. It’s time to give them the butt-kicking that all good bullies deserve.

A new MSNBC/McClatchy poll shows Republican George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb in a dead heat for Allen’s Senate seat. Allen’s standing has crumbled in the wake of the “macaca” and other racial scandals.

I can’t remember another time in recent memory when a political “rising star” fell so quickly.

The stories just don’t stop coming. MSNBC has an exclusive report on a woman, Pat Waring, who overheard Allen loudly and repeatedly using the “n” word in the late 70’s as he prepared for a rugby match. This happened just before his first run for Virginia House of Delegates.

I agree with the woman in the article. He could have come clean about his past, admitted his repeated use of the word in the recklessness of his youth, apologized, and moved on. But no, he preferred to flatly deny it, which makes him a sitting duck for anyone who knows anything to the contrary. I bet we’ll get stories like this all the way to the election.

Allen is a disgrace to Virginia and to people of color. I can’t fathom how someone like him is still in office….though his presidential aspirations are probably toast, and that’s a good thing.

(The Allen campaign is fomenting allegations that his challenger Jim Webb also used the “n” word at one point. We’ll see what comes of that story, and if true is equally reprehensible, though I still consider Allen by far the worse evil for his consistent pattern of racism, from displaying nooses and confederate flags to the “macaca” incident to stuffing a decapitated deer’s head in a black family’s mailbox.)

A new poll, Mason-Dixon/Times-Dispatch, is showing that Democratic Senate challenger Jim Webb has closed the gap with Republican George Allen, no doubt due to the crumbling of Allen’s campaign in the wake of the “macaca” scandal last month.

The poll has 46% for Allen to 42% for Webb, with Webb in the margin of error. Allen has surrendered a 16% lead in this poll as compared to July. The race is now competitive and Democrats stand a good chance of picking up this seat, which would help secure a Democratic majority in the Senate. Even if Allen wins, his disastrous showing against an unknown Democratic opponent may very well doom his presidential aspirations.

Webb is underfunded and in serious need of financial contributions. You can contribute online by going here.

The criticism of George Allen’s “macaca” comments this week has been relentless. Contributing to that in no small measure has been the “YouTube” phenomenon and the increasing ease with which videos get shared. The video documenting Allen’s comments has been viewed almost 200,000 times as of today’s date.

Allen’s nightmarish week has translated into gains for his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. Traffic to Webb’s website has doubled in the last week, and there has been a resurgence of interest in his campaign. Webb, who is an inexperienced campaigner and is underfunded compared to Allen, needs all the help he can get. Now the question is whether Webb can capitalize on the momentum and keep it going.

Democrats need one more seat to gain control of the Senate. Will this one be it?

Outrage followed in the wake of the blogosphere’s explosion of commentary on Republican Senator Allen repeatedly calling S. R. Sidarth, the only non-white member of a rally, a “macaca” and “welcoming him to America.” Allen issued an apology on Monday night, but the damage was done.

What did Allen mean by “macaca?” The Washington Post speculates:

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs.

The fact that Allen’s mother is a Tunisian immigrant makes it highly likely he was aware of the term’s derogatory use as a racial slur.

The slur itself was bad enough, but Allen’s telling the audience to welcome the US-born Sidarth to America and “the real world” was incredibly condescending and makes you wonder what kind of “real world” America George Allen lives in.

What did Virginia Senator George Allen mean when he called a person of Indian descent a “macaca” during a recent rally? (View the video.) That’s what his opponent Jim Webb wants to know.

The individual, S. R. Sidarth, was videotaping the rally for the Webb campaign. Allen, who must have gotten annoyed with Sidarth’s presence, pointed out that “macaca over here”, and later “welcome[d him] to America and the real world of Virginia,” said “real world” consisting of an all-white Republican crowd except for Sidarth.

“Macaca” is the genus of macaque monkeys. Did George Allen really intend to call the only person of color at a rally a monkey?

Virginia Senator George Allen is being buffeted by attacks from both the Left and the radical Right for his ownership of stock in Barr Laboratories, the maker of the Plan B “morning after” pill. The attacks center on the hypocrisy of owning stock in a company providing “abortion pills” at the same time Allen professes to be “pro-life.”

Allen defends his investment, saying he admires Barr as a company–a company with a large plant in southern Virginia, an area crucial for him in the November election. By holding the stock, however, he risks angering his social conservative base both in Virginia and on the national scene as he explores a run for president.

I’m personally relishing the controversy. There are few politicians I despise more than George Allen. While sadly he is more likely than not to win re-election to the Senate, I’m hopeful America is in no mood for his bigoted brand of politics come 2008.